Posted on March 28, 2022
OCEAN CITY, NJ — The Trustees of the Ocean Wind Pro-NJ Grantor Trust Fund today released a Request for Expressions of Interest (RFEIO) for coastal infrastructure and resiliency projects in Ocean, Atlantic and Cape May counties. The projects the Trust is looking for will mitigate impacts of severe weather and help increase resiliency so counties and municipalities can better respond to natural disasters.
Before formal applications open, interested parties must submit Expressions of Interest (EOI). According to the Trust, this is to improve access to funds. The submission window for EOIs begins on Monday, April 4. Counties and municipalities may pursue the first step in the process by visiting www.pronjtrust.org and downloading the Request for Expressions of Interest now. Once the EOIs are reviewed by the Trustees and members of the Advisory Committee, qualified applicants will be invited to submit formal proposals.
During this round of funding, the Trust will award up to $3.5 million in support of projects from Atlantic, Cape May and Ocean counties that address environmental and infrastructure issues. Trustees want to “ascertain the number and types of infrastructure projects that seek to improve coastal resiliency in these communities.”
EOIs will be accepted through 3 p.m. on Tuesday, May 3, and may be extended depending on the number of EOIs received.
Gov. Phil Murphy has said he wants to make New Jersey the nation’s leader in offshore wind.
However, the building of these wind farms is something that has been quite controversial to shore residents, particularly Ocean City. Many residents fear the impact on tourism and the environment. Read More: Ocean City Residents Launch Petition Against Offshore Wind Farm
“We’re not against wind energy. We’re against this project specifically because we believe it’s going to destroy the Jersey coast for a number of reasons,” Suzanne Hornick, an administrator of the Facebook group Save Our Shoreline NJ previously told Patch.
The Trust is a $15 million fund established by Ocean Wind 1 following its selection by the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities in June 2019 as New Jersey’s first offshore wind farm. In addition to providing funding for coastal resiliency projects, the Trust offers small, women-owned and minority-owned businesses support in reconfiguring or adapting their businesses to participate in the developing offshore wind industry, with the goal of ensuring that the offshore wind industry in New Jersey is developed in a sustainable and inclusive way.
“It is widely known that our beloved Jersey Shore and its back bays, wetlands, and marshes are all being impacted by weather and, too often, just a full moon at high tide. From nuisance flooding that prevents people from going about their daily lives to storm surges that force families and visitors to evacuate their homes, the communities in southern New Jersey face difficult financial choices on how to best deal with these challenges,” said Beverly McCall, Esquire, chair of the Pro-NJ Grantor Trust.
“The ability of our communities to bounce back from these events begins with building and maintaining resiliency infrastructure to keep families in their homes, at their jobs, and out of harm’s way. It is the Trust’s goal that towns and counties along the coast and near waterways throughout Ocean, Atlantic and Cape May counties have access to funds to support these necessary resiliency projects.”
Following the award of coastal resiliency funds, the Trustees will publish a Request for Expressions for Interest directed toward New Jersey small, women-owned and minority-owned businesses.
